City seeks Edward Wisner Donation grant proposals

After putting the program on hold for several months, the city has issued a call for proposals for grants to be issued from the Edward Wisner Donation, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office said Friday.

View full sizeKerry Maloney, The Times-Picayune archiveThis statue of Big Chief Tootie Montana is one of several paid for from the Edward Wisner donation. It was photographed in Armstrong Park in April 2010.

The estate of Edward Wisner was donated to the city in 1914 as a 100-year charitable trust, giving the city a continuing income from mineral-rich marshlands.

Since Landrieu took office in May, the grant program has been dormant, leaving millions of dollars unspent and many local organizations wondering when the money would be released, WWL-TV reported last month.

According to the original bequest, the Wisner money must support local needs in the areas of beautification, education, recreation or human services, Deputy Mayor Judy Reese Morse said. The city is seeking to help programs in these areas that are strategically aligned with citywide priorities, she said.

"We've taken the time over recent months to carefully and thoughtfully review the process by which the funds were awarded," said Morse, who also serves as Landrieu's chief of staff. "We must be good stewards of this funding, ensuring that the monies being granted are used responsibly, benefit the public, meet the criteria of the Wisner donation and are aligned with the priorities of our administration."

Requests by public entities and nonprofit organizations will be considered through a competitive selection process. There is no specific deadline. Proposals may be submitted throughout the year.

"The funds awarded must support projects, organizations and initiatives that will be of maximum benefit to the public," Morse said.

Proposals should include information about the organization, the amount requested, the programs the grants would assist and how the programs would benefit the public.

During former Mayor Ray Nagin's eight years in office, the Wisner Donation had total income of almost $9 million and awarded $10.5 million in grants, leaving a fund balance on April 30, 2010, of $3.4 million.

Nagin turned to the fund to pay for a $1.2 million collection of sculptures of local musical and cultural icons he planned to install in Armstrong Park. He held an unveiling ceremony for the statues a few days before he left office, but the park was closed shortly thereafter and work halted because of a series of blunders by the contractor and work crews, such as cracking part of the statue of the park's namesake, jazz great Louis Armstrong,

Other major Wisner grant recipients in 2009 and 2010 included the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, New Orleans Opera, New Orleans African American Museum, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the mayoral fellows program at City Hall, Bridge House, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Louisiana Children's Museum.

A proposal to renew the donation to the city when the original 100-year bequest expires in 2014 is awaiting action.